back now with more of "today" on this tuesday morning, october 30th, 2012. you're looking at some of the images of wrath of sandy, a massive storm that started as a hurricane and has hammered the northeast and new england, major flooding. a lot of wind damage, and massivwer outages that could take days or longer to restore. good morning, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie alongside matt lauer. just talking in the last half hour how the sun came out. what a difference 20 minutes makes in midtown manhattan. >> two minutes ago we had a major downpour behind us, the wind picked up considerably, one of our cameras blew over, but if you look at the satellite image of the aftermath of sandy which

is now just a mass of clouds and rain you see we for the next day or two, we'll be dealing with these kind of stray gusts of wind and rainstorms, so this is something i heard one forecaster say we'll deal with the high winds and the gusts of winds through tomorrow night into thursday, but, again, it did just get dark here, and we had a lot of rain over the last couple of minutes. >> tide still coming in, flo flooding, storm surge still a problem. >> the death toll from this storm has risen to 17 people from seven different states n.queens just outside new york city, dozens of homes have been lost in an overnight fire. it is still burning this morning. we'll have the latest on that straight ahead. >> and a lot of people are asking us questions. they want to know what's going on. we'll be answering them a little bit later. if you want to send us a question, tweet it to us and use the #sandytoday. want to check in with al at his post in point pleasant beach, new jersey. this is close to the point where sandy officially made landfall last night.

al, good morning again. >> well, good morning, guys. and as you look down, there's atlantic beach, the atlantic ocean, and there's dunes there. i was standing on those dunes. they came down about 8:00, and the ocean came rushing in, and you see the aftermath. sand as far as you can see. flooding, too, down the block here. it's a real mess, a real mess here. let's look and show you what we've got as far as the latest on sandy. right now it's about 90 miles west of philadelphia. it's got 65-mile-per-hour winds. it's moving west northwest at 15 miles per hour. the wind gusts, again, a big problem. 86 in parts of massachusetts and 90-mile-per-hour wind gusts in islip yesterday. annapolis 69-mile-per-hour wind gusts, and then as we take a look at what we're looking at as far as winds today@'8 we've got damaging winds stretching from bangor, maine, as far west as michigan and as far south as atlanta. wind gusts of 55 to 60 miles per

hour, and look at what we're going to be dealing with over the next 24 to 36 hours. detroit gusts of 36 miles per hour, new york 40 miles per hour and washington 42. by wednesday they have died down, but you can still say pretty gusty in the northeast and even as far back as detroit, about 22 miles per hour. highest water rises reported in, brooklyn up to 12.5 feet. bridgeport, connecticut, 9.9 feet. the battery where we've seen so much damage, almost 10 feet of water. we had a record-setting wave height at sandy hook, new jersey at 10.5 feet. the rainfall was just tremendous, south of the city, upwards of a foot of rain, and that's going to continue, and the rain will finally start to die down. we'll pick up more rain into new england, about 2 to 3 inches of rain, some areas as much as 5, and a blizzard still going on in the mountains of west virginia and western virginia. we're looking for another 1 to 2

feet of snow, so this thing is -- has been a monster, and we're going to continue to deal with it for at least another 24 hours. savannah is this. >> at the moment has earned the title storm of the century. al, thank you. now to the historic flooding in lower manhattan. enmorales is in battery park city this morning. natalie, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning again to you, savannah. the worst may be over. it is a new day, but clearly the aftermath of sandy will be with us for a while. as you mentioned, flooding still a major concern, particularly in coastal new jersey as well as coastal connecticut as well, where you heard the governor speaking about the situation there. now, millions are without power all up and down the eastern seaboard, and we could be without power for at least up to a week, if not longer than that. as you mentioned, this is being called the storm of the century, and clearly sandy has lived up to the hype. waves pounded the new jersey

coastline, destroying parts of atlantic city's historic boardwalk. >> this storm has everyone has been saying it's not like any storm we've ever seen before. >> reporter: sparks flew from a con-edison explosion in manhattan, and snow fell in western virginia and tennessee, all scenes from super storm sandy also known as frankenstrom or the storm of the century. >> this water is swallowing this neighborhood. >> reporter: it was downgraded late monday to a post-tropical cyclone, but when it hit land at around 8:00 p.m., with winds of up to 90 miles per hour, no one was spared its wrath. >> now we're seeing hurricane force wind gusts, and this is really pushing the atlantic on to the beaches here in north jersey. >> reporter: millions of people in more than half a dozen states experienced devastating flooding, and over 7 million homes lost power. raging fires spread across the tri-state area.

in lower manhattan, the lights went out in the city that never sleeps. the power outage caused evacuations of some of the city's most vulnerable. over 200 patients were carried down stairs and out of nyu's langone medical center, including babies in critical care. a building was ripped apart, left exposed to the storm, and a construction crane hung by threads 80 stories above the ground. >> unless you own a submarine, there is no way you're getting out of new york city. >> reporter: and there is no getting in. >> what looks like a river is actually the fdr drive. >> reporter: water gushed through the city, covering everything from ground zero to the brooklyn waterfront and the new jersey p.a.t.h. train. the mta chairman spoke to the historic damage saying the new york city subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night. >> we need to keep the roads clear. do not drive. let me repeat that.

please, do not drive. >> reporter: as day breaks, the recovery effort begins, but the extent of the damage from this deadly storm remains to be seen. here in the financial center of new york as well as the world's financial center, the new york stock exchange will remain closed for a second day. as you heard, bridges and tunnels, some of the major bridges and tunnels here in new york remain closed as well, except for the lincoln tunnel which is the only access point really into the city, major access point into the city, i should correct myself there, matt, and also important to note that it's still rough going around -- in and around so if you can, stay home. probably advisable to do so as well. matt? >> good advice. natalie morales in lower manhattan, thanks very much. >> to our east on new york's long island, flooding and wind damage also widespread and residents of long beach are being told not to drink their tap water this morning. nbc's mara schiavocampo is there.

mara, good morning. >> reporter: matt, good morning. you know, the rain has stopped, but we are still getting pounded by very high winds. that's actually why i'm wearing these glasses because we're getting blasted from the sand coming in from the beach. yesterday during high tide this ocean moved through the town like the colorado river. it was raging. one resident said that it had a fury, and what it did was caused a tremendous amount of flooding, and when it receded, this is what it left behind. want to show you what it left behind. a plow came back to create access for vehicles and left this mound of sand that was left behind the water that came in. this is a city street. right now it's totally and completely a beach, and it's like this for blocks and blocks inland. i want to show you some of the damage here to property. you can see that when that water came rushing through town, it caused a tremendous amount of damage, at least up to one story. all of these vehicles that you're seeing, they weren't parked here. they floated here. they were brought here by the force of that water, and it's just reduced these garages to

beams and pieces of splintered wood. this really highlights the major concern that officials here and the reason that they set up a mandatory evacuation for this area, because this area in particular was getting storm surge, not just from the ocean on one side, but also from the bay, so there are reports of considerable flooding all over town, and also of power outages. approximately 850,000 homes without power right now, and the power authority is warning that it could be up to ten days before that comes back. the other concern, especially with these winds still as high as they are, we're now in high tide again, and we can see, you know, the beach is not very far. it's about three blocks away. we can see that water churning and still very, very active and the concern is though it's receded for now, there could be a second wave of flooding, if you will, and could exacerbate the problem here for people who are trying to clean up. we have also seen some damage from these high winds, so it wasn't just the flooding. we have seen roofs peeled back,

some damage to roofs and windows, furniture strewn about and the like. a lot of cleanup here in manhattan. >> mara schiavocampo on long beach in long island. talk about people being without power for seven or ten days. we're entering november here, and it gets cold at night in this part of the country. those people will have issues over the next week or so. >> no question about it. we'll have more of our coverage on sandy in a moment. first some other news headlines to get to. we've got tamron hall over the news desk for natalie. good morning. >> good morning. sandy's sting is being felt on the campaign trail as well this morning as analysts fear that the extreme weather could disrupt voting in key swing states, including virginia and ohio. no u.s. presidential election has ever been delayed or cancelled in our nation's history, but congress has the authority to do so. there's also been concern that the storm could delay friday's release of october unemployment numbers. the last jobs report before the election. as of this morning the labor department says it does intend to have those numbers available

friday. meantime, both president obama and mitt romney have put their campaign trips on hold because of the storm and the need to deal with this aftermath. a deadly school bus accident in northern kentucky monday afternoon, two pre-schoolers were killed when their bus overturned and slammed into a tree. four other children were taken to local hospitals. the bus driver escaped without being harm. the cause of this crash is still under investigation. a shuffle for apple executives after some embarrassing software glitches and retail staff cuts. software chief scott forestall will be leaving next year. the reason, reported lit glitches in apple maps which gave users some faulty directions. a new study out today in "atlantic journal" shows while mammograms provide a life-saving diagnostic tool in the fight against breast cancer, they also cause doctors to treat some women unnecessarily. the british panel found that for every life saved, three women

are overdiagnosed, treated for cancer that would never have threatened their lives. the u.s. geological survey says a magnitude 6.2 earthquake off the west coast of canada last night was a strong aftershock of the more powerful 7.7 quake that struck the same area saturday night. there have been nearly 80 aftershocks registered in the area off british columbia. no reports of any significant damage. a new report shows that all of those extra fees you pay to fly really do add up. in 2011 airlines made $32.5 billion in those a la cart fees charging flyers to check a bag or board early. that by the way, is an 11% increase from the previous year. the retired space shuttle "endeavour" opens to the public today in los angeles. visitors can now see the 122-foot long orbiter for themselves after it went cross-country, piggybacked across the country, 11-mile journey through the streets of

l.a. as well. "endeavour" spent a total of 296 days in space and circled the earth more than 4,600 times. can you see it for yourself on the next family vacation. it is now 12 minutes past hour. back to matt and savannah. something fun to think about. >> yeah. >> that would be an awesome family vacay. >> all that circling around the earth was easier than getting it through the streets of los angeles, a tough trip, really was. back to new jersey and the shoreline where al is standing bit. al? >> hey, guys, when you see this sand, this isn't just a little veneer of sand this, goes down about six inches deep. i mean, it is a lot of sand, so you can imagine the effort that it's going to take to get all of this off the streets. i mean, it's just really mind boggling to think about it. you get a sense of the power of water. let's show you what we've got going on today. can you see on the u.s. satellite radar, you can see the

swirl that still is sandy in the northeast, but if you look to the northwest, there's a lot going on there, too. big storm coming onshore. it is bringing a lot of rain to the pacific northwest. one to two inches and some areas three inches in mountain snows. southwest, plenty of sunshine and a beautiful day. sunny and warm through the gulf coast, but, again, the windy conditions extend down into central georgia, the effects of sandy still being felt. that's what's going on around >> good morning. conditions will improve as we head through the day today. temperatures in the 40's today. the wind still make just up

>> that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right, al. thank you very much. coming up, something that a lot of children may be thinking about in the wake of hurricane sandy. what's to come of halloween? and if there isn't going to be one, how do you talk to your kids about it. that's right after this.

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well, as the storm slowly runs its could, a lot of kids on the east coast have one question what. will happen to halloween. "today" contributor elizabeth mayhew is a lifestyle expert. good morning to you. >> boo-hoo. >> talk about boo-hoo. presumably many, many events will be cancelled. >> actually this ironically happened last year, too.

there was a big snow storm, and most of halloween was cancelled so the big question is mother of the obviously you're not going to send your kids into a dark neighborhood. that is -- that is the real trick, so you need to check with your town. you need to follow the local news to see what's going on. most malls are closed. even other places that sometimes absorb the trick-or-treating, a lot of them are shut down. >> it's the day before. >> rate. >> at what point do you tell your kids doesn't look like we'll have trick-or-treating this year. >> i think it's good to have a plan "b." having something to substitute and make it fun. a lot of kids are very happy because they have missed two days of school so there is some recompense in that. there is a plan "b," that this is a possibility and maybe can you make it up. a lot of the big parties are going to be cancelled. some of the smaller parties might be happening, so maybe gang together with friends, and there's certainly things that you can do as a community to come together and make it fun for kids. >> this is a time to get creative with the kids which is where you come in. so you have an idea called chunk

and treat. what do you mean by that? >> this is a big trend. i already know some people in new jersey who have already organized this whether it's a cul-de-sac or neighborhood, people come together and bring their cars out provided you can drive. you bring the cars together, you put candy in the trunk and kids trunk or treat. >> what about indoors, i'm sure you could have the child dress up in his or her costume. >> absolutely. invite some kids, friends over, have them dress up. i like to do a safe jer hunt so just follow what you would maybe do for an easter egg hunt and hide the candy around and let them go and fine it. alot is getting the candy and sort it. my brothers and sisters and i used to like that. >> by sort it you mean fight over it. and you have a craft idea. what happened to the milk carton and cereal idea. >> for those of us stuck in the house eating all the halloween

candy, glue it, have gun, decorate it, whatever it might be. you clean it out, and start gluing away. >> gluing away. >> that means you can probably still eat the wrapped candy but not the candy corns. >> like a gingerbread house but doing it with all y candy. again, something fun to do, and if you're indoors and have a lot of time and there's no electricity, nothing like candy, cereal box and some glue to get you going. >> one thing a lot of people have right now is time. elizabeth mayhew, thank you. we're back with more coverage of the storm, but first these messages. [ male announcer ] when you're sick, seems everyone and their brother has a home remedy to try. but walgreens knows that you need advice from an expert. that's why our pharmacists are trained to know just what you should take for your symptoms. they're here and ready to help before you try anything... too crazy. now walgreens pharmacists welcome express scripts members. you may stop by today for the service you trust.

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>> there are even some snow flakes being reported in some neighborhoods. cold rain will continue for most of the day. temperatures are in the 40's. it will stay that way all the way into the afternoon. winds are in the 30's. things get

yeah. what was a rain event in most parts along the east coast and some states up into new england was a snow event, as al has been telling us, over the last day or so in parts of westok virginia, and the mountains of north carolina, that was an image i believe from the area near snowshoe, west virginia. that's a ski resort that i've been to on a couple of occasions. it's beautiful there, and they don't normally get snow this early, at least not in this amount. a good start to the ski season, but, again, making life a little more difficult for people in that area. we'll check in on that situation there in just a couple of minutes. i'm matt lauer alongside

savannah guthrie. high rain, heavy winds and flooding still a threat from the storm that knocked out power to millions of people along the east coast. >> that presents a problem for many, many families. how to feed everybody as you wait for the lights to come back on, especially if you're worried about the food in your fridge and how long it may last. >> let's go down to anne thompson in lower manhattan. when we checked in with her yesterday, the discussion was whether the huddon river and the harbor water would come up over the promenade. well guess what? it certainly did, and some other damage behind you there, anne. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. you know, high winds are just one of the problems that manhattanites are dealing with this morning. let me show you what they are waking up to here in battery park this. tree fell over last night as wind gusts hit very high speeds here. hurricane wind gusts here in battery park. that's just one problem and another big problem here in lower manhattan is the loss of power. i was driving here from my apartment and below 28th street there is not a light on.

con-ed turned off the power about 7:00 last night in lower manhattan to protect its equipment, and to protect that equipment from the storm surge that came up fast and furious here last night. in fact, it set a new record almost 14 feet high. and we got trapped down here last night because of the storm surge. when we finally got done about 9:00, we tried to go back to our apartments and found we couldn't get out of battery park city because everything was flooded. it took three hours for the water to recede enough so that we could drive through some very deep water with our suvs. now, this morning i can tell you driving here, you see debris all over manhattan. there are branches down, trees down, scaffolding is down. it's a real mess, and because of that mayor bloomberg is again urging people to stay inside, stay home, don't go outside because it is not safe. and even if you want to go outside, i mean, i'm telling you, you can't get around.

mass transit closed for the second straight day. the subways, seven stations under the east river are flooded. they hope to have bus service back tomorrow, but it looks like subways and trains will take a lot longer because the cleanup here is going to be quite extensive. matt. >> anne thompson(n >> there were coastal rescues in fairfield, connecticut by the national guard, and also fires in greenwich, connecticut, that burned out of control all year long destroying multi-million dollar homes. fire fighters could not reach the homes because the

floodwaters were so high. also, fires in old saybrook, and those were raging since 9:00 p.m. last night. still raging last time we checked. couldn't get to them because of all of the floodwaters. at one point last night emergency officials sent out a tweet saying that if you were trapped in your homes, hang a wheat sheet out of your window or on your house some way so we know where you are. very reminiscent of what we saw in katrina. the good news is the vast majority of people who were told to evacuate did evacuate so you didn't have as many trapped people, as you might have expected, had they not done so. two people dead and one man who is still believed to be missing. savannah? >> katy tur in stonington, connecticut this morning. thank you. >> let's go to al roker on point pleasant beach along the jersey shore. al, what's the weather like there, first of all? >> it's still windy, matt, and we're getting bands of rain. let me show you something down philadelphia avenue. you see there's a lot of

flooding, and folks walking through that standing water. do not do that. because you don't know what's in there. from a biohazard standpoint, from a debris standpoint, from live wires. there was a woman electrocuted in new york city walking through a puddle. do not do that. so -- but, again, we are talking about the remnants of sandy still hanging around for at least another 24 to 36 hour. as we take a look at the "today" map, in the northeast sandy is the dominant feature, but in the pacific northwest another big storm, a lot of heavy rain and windy conditions back through the west and great lakes. let's look at tomorrow. you can expect to see more heavy rains from the northwest spreading down into northern california. more rain hanging around the northeast and into the eastern great lakes and mountain snows continue in west virginia and western virginia. sunny and warm from the gulf coast, texas on into the southwest. that's what's going on around

>> good morning. what is left of sandy is still drifting through parts of the area. it will be windy and cold today. the >> matt, point pleasant beach is in ocean county and an ocean county official just rode through doing an youassessment. the dunes are knocked down in a dozen different places and the other end of the inlet the flooding is extensive. scenes like this being repeated up and down the jersey shore. back to you. >> i think you told us yesterday, al, that the dunes had been created to protect against storms, and now they have to go through the whole

process again. >> exactly. there was a big nor'easter in 1992, and so they built these dunes as a protective barrier. really for just about 30 years they have stood up against what mother nature and the atlantic has thrown at it. sandy proved to be too much. >> al roker, appreciate it very much. back with more on the storm and the damage left behind right after this. ally bank. why they have a raise your rate cd. tonight our guest, thomas sargent. nobel laureate in economics, and one of the most cited economists in the world. professor sargent, can you tell me what cd rates will be in two years? no. if he can't, no one can. that's why ally has a raise your rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally. ♪ in everything you do

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fabulous but...when i add chicken, barbecue sauce... and cheese...and roll it up woo-wee! i've made a barbecue chicken crescent chow down. pillsbury crescents. let the making begin. >> families now scrambling to feed their children and housing themselves without the help of stoves and microwaves. our lifestyle expert is here with us.

good morning, good to see you. >> good to see you, too. >> one of the things you wished you stocked your pantry properly, but nonetheless always a chance to learn something new. >> of course. >> you're starting out with something interesting. having beans on the ready in the house. >> you don't have to have peanut butter and jelly if you don't want to. if you have a well-stocked pantry you can eat decently. keep beans in the house, canned beans, dry beans, olive oils, ven gar and look in your pantry, fridge, any herbs left, carrots, celery and tuna is a great staple. >> things with a long shelf life. >> so once they are in they are good for a while. >> you can make a couple of things with this starting with a tuna and bean salad. >> okay. which is very easy. use the canned tuna. i like them in olive oil, whatever you can find and whatever you have in your pantry and any kind of beans, white beans, plaque beans, dump them all, different kinds of beans and this is healthy. >> we were just laughing, but seriously, a lot of kids saying can we eat the ice cream before it melts because that's the only thing that's there. >> and then you've got some

scallions, if you've got them or onions, red onions are nice, celery. >> and if you don't have these in your refrigerator or pantry forgo and still do the tuna and bean combo. >> mix it up, jarred peppers, what have you and then you can season it. i like cayenne, need like to gi a kick. >> doing oil and vinegar. >> i like lemon a lot because it adds brightness so that's what you can use. stir it up and mix it up. serve that on crackers or bread. >> great. >> or just as a salad on a bed of lettuce or bed of spinach, whatever you have. i think the kids eat it, too. my kids like this. >> you don't have an oven or microwave, they will eat anything. yummy and flavorful, and filling on top of that. okay. you also have a different salad, zucchini and carrots. >> a lot of zucchini in the market, i like this presentation, a fun way to do it. cutting them into ribbons, just

a prettier way to approach it. you kid the kids busy in the kitchen, get a peeler and dress it in the same way, a little olive oil and vinegar or olive oil and lem on, add different things. keep nuts in the huts house, things in your pantry, and if you keep it stocked you'll always have a good meal. >> like both of these recipes because we were warned earlier there could be power outages. can you make this before in anticipation of the storm and have it there on the ready to feed the kids. >> and go into sandwiches tomorrow, too, if you have anything left over. use up what you have in your pantry and keep things on stock and you'll never go hungry again. >> thank you, suzanne. great pleasure having you on. we'll be back with more coverage of sandy right after this. alright let's break it down.

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delicious. but say i press a few out flat... add some beef sloppy joe sauce... and cheese fold it all up and boom! i just made an unbeatable unsloppy joe pillsbury grands biscuits. let the making begin. well, the impact of sandy extends well beyond the united states with so many flight cancellations, thousands of tourists are now trapped overseas. nbc's michelle kosinski is in london with that part of the story. michelle, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, savannah. right now you might say the situation is improving some with more u.s. airports now opening, but it's worse in others. heathrow, for example, has more flight cancellations today than

yesterday. it's left now with thousands of americans stranded all over the world. thousands of others stuck in the u.s. >> super storm sandy strikes causing death and damage. >> reporter: sand set big news story here, too. >> states of emergency. >> a major disaster is declared in new york. >> reporter: and affecting many. >> kennedy is cancelled or closed so we're here for four more days. >> reporter: from airport around the world, london, frankfurt, paris, no way into new york or many other u.s. cities. jeff and his wife need to get from the city of lights to a place in connecticut that may or may not have power once they land. >> we need to get a place to stay here in paris, and a little indecision because they don't know how long it's going to be before airports open. >> reporter: thinking they might be able to get home via montreal this. group is planning on camping for an entire day at heathrow trying

to make it to los angeles. the next available flight for some may not be for a week forcing americans to stick it out through the mounting expense and uncertain. >> we're fortunate that we're able to afford to do that. feel so bad when i'm watching the news. >> convenienced and a little bit of expense. the new england patriots who played in london barely made it out on a charter flight and made it back to boston on monday. some others got stuck. the gargantuan hurricane sandy and with a phenomenon almost unheard of in these parts had reverberations in european stock markets, as wall street closed and sandbagged markets here lost some volume. investors that fund insurance specialists lloyds of london pulled back, worried how much cleanup from this monster storm could ultimately cost. new york and land-in are connected by commerce of all kinds. more than 7,000 people a day on average. more than 2.5 million last year,

fly between jfk and heathrow. sandy now leaving people stuck on both sides of that roiling ocean. americans now stranded across the globe. people here are watching those pictures in horror and what a storm like this can do, and for those stranded some airlines are not helping with the tab for hotels, and the question now is how soon they will be able to get back to the u.s. because things like this that have snowballing effect. some here in london are being told their next flight might not be until saturday or sunday. they are trying to fly to other cities like chicago to get to new york. savannah. >> could be a while. michelle kosinski in london, thank you. we're back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc.

you know, one of the reasons that sandy made that that dramatic turn to the northeast

was another storm moving in from the west, and it's brought snow, a lot of it, to parts of the appalachian mountains. the weather channel's janelle klein is in snowshoe, west virginia with more from there. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt, as hurricane sandy continues to batter the east coast, it's having a very different effect here in west virginia. lots of snow, as you said. in fact, almost two feet of snow in some parts of west virginia, the governor declaring a state of emergency here with travel very, very difficult this morning. thousands of people without power. many counties in a state of emergency because of that power loss, and many travelers stranded on the road. the plows are out this morning trying to clear those highways. national guard troops are also on standby trying to help people stranded on the roads, and state agencies have set up shelters trying to help people who have been out and have no place to go, and yet they do expect this storm will get better. as you can see, the snow continues to fall here, and the storm does continue. we expect it will intensify

before the day is over and get a lot worse before the day is over. >> janel klein in snowshoe, west virginia. thank you very much. want to bring up some pictures of manhattan. the fdr drive is the main thoroughfare along the east side of manhattan, right along the east river. we don't have major thoroughfares in the middle of the island, just streets and avenues. this is like a highway, and that is what it looked like in the middle of last night as the east river and the fdr drive were one. >> more like a river than a highway, and on the west side a similar story. saw the images from battery park city which is the southwestern tip of manhattan as the water spilled over and i think exceeded even the expectations, the worst forecast for what the storm surge should be. about 8:30 or so, a lot of us downtown lost our power. con-ed, the local utility, doing so in an abundance of caution to prevent further damage, and it may be days, perhaps weeks for some across the northeast to get their power back. >> i should mention one thing about the fdr, it basically

floods when it drizzles here but you can imagine what it's like in a storm like sandy. anyway, images like that, you're going to be seeing them over the next couple of days as we continue to clean up from a storm that had an enormous impact on our region. >> and if you want to send some pictures,y with a anxious to show them on the air. tweet them to us. use the #sandytoday. we're going to have a lot more coverage of this powerful storm that's disrupting life across the northeast today after a check of your local news. anncr: it's endorsed by business leaders...

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